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Valdemar (Val) R Wake
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From a Sydney Daily Telegraph copy boy to a senior information advisor with the British Foreign Office spans Val Wake's career in journalism.
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I entered journalism in reaction to my father's work in the state security service. I was sick of secrets. I thought journalism would give me the chance to deal with the world's problems in an open and honest way. When working as a small town editor for a western Canada newspaper I began to realise that journalists only knew half the story. The people who made the decisions were the politicians and officials who mostly worked behind closed doors. After a four year stint in Arctic Canada, where I took part in an aborted attempt to reach the North Pole, I returned to England where I worked for the Central Office of Information, first in the provinces and then in London. In London my main client was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and I helped orchestrate an information campaign using film. television and radio supporting the battle to retake the Falklands, assisting the Mujahideen in their fight with the Red Army in Afgthanistan and supporting the coalition forces during Desert Storm. On reaching retirement I returned to Australia and took up writing and sailing.
I married Lillian Louise Lequereux of Vancouver BC Canada, in London in 1956. We have two daughters, Michelle and Claudine both of whom were born in Canada. Michelle was born in Dawson Creek. BC and Claudine was born in Yellowknife NWT. Michelle is now living in Somerset, England where she and her partner run a landscape design business. Claudine and her husband live in Sydney, Australia where Claudine works as a book publicist.
My main retirement activities are writing and sailing. I sail on a 37 foot racer both in the river and offshore. The name of the boat is Zig Zag. I am currently working on a book about my love affair with boats with the working title of My Voyage Around Spray with Apologies to Captn Joshua Slocum. Before joining the Zig Zag crew I had my own yacht called Spray after Slocum's Spray which was the first yacht to be sailed single handed around the world. I didn't get that far. The furtherest I went in Spray was about 30 nautical miles.
I like the sea because it tests you. We have a bar at Port Macquarie at the mouth of the Hastings River. I have had some difficult crossings on Spray. I learnt a lot from these crossings especially about the seaworthiness of my yacht Spray. She is a 26 foot Triton long keeler. Originally an American design.
My wife and I swim a lot in the 50 metre outdoor pool. I try to do 20 laps about a kilometre three times a week. On alternate days we tackle Doctor's Walk which follows the coast from Town Beach to Windmill Hill. Along the way we pass Flagstaff Hill with about 80 steps. We go up and down the steps twice. We are both in our seventies.
Port Macqurie is a good place for retirees. There is not much to spend your money on and the climate is congenial. In fact what originally interested us in Port Macquarie was the claim that it was scientifically proven that it had one of the best climates in the world. That came from a British meteorologist who was so convinced by the argument that he decided to move his wife and himself from Oxfordshire, England, to Port Macquarie. It might have made sense at the time but it did not work out. After about two years the couple returned to the UK. They could not accept Australian customs and practises. Living with Australians is not easy. My wife has problems but she likes the sun so we stay here.
Birth Place: Sydney, Australia
Accomplishments: During my first stay in London I worked as an extra on a number of feature films and became a reviewer with the theatrical magazine Plays and Players. In Canada I became the national correspondent for the Toronto Globe and Mail on the growth of the native rights movement in the north. Some of my stories appeared in Canadian text books. In Australia I helped launch provincial television news gathering at WIN Four and introduced one-subject newsreel productions for ABC TV News at Gore Hill. On retirement my first book No Ribbons or Medals: the story of 'Hereward' an Australian counter espionage officer was published by Jacobyte Books ISBN 174100165X. It can be ordered online through Digital Printing, South Australia. I am an irregular correspondent for AQ, Australian Quarterly, the journal of The Australian Institute of Policy and Science. Among my recent pieces published by AQ were: Where the Sun Sets in the north, a story of the Northern Territory. Who Killed Captain Cook, a theory about the native political plot to murder the English navigator, Le Parc Australien, a story about southern France, the Intelligence Community about the in-figthing within the Australian intelligence community in WW2, Notes from a Distant Passage a new perspective on the ANZAC tradition, 10 Days in China about the winds of change in the Middle Kingdom.
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Books
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 | When the Lions are Drinking by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
This is a novel set in the corridors of power of the British Foreign Office. It is told through the eyes of Felix Manners, the Liverpool born head of a government film unit that employs its black arts to support the British Government in various theatres around the world where it is trying to win hearts and minds....
Amazon.com
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Short Stories
The Story of Zog by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
This is a fairy story set in the Somerset Levels in England's West Country. It was written to celebate the birth of our first grandson whose mother Claudine is featured in the story. The illustration...
The Day Before Anzac Day by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Conversations between neighbours recall times past when Australia was at war....
The Heresy Hunt by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
This story is written as a play about spies spying on spies...
On the Road to Yass by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Road accidents and their aftermath....
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Poetry
Crossing the Bar by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
On Sunday 4 December 2011 the Port Macquarie Yacht Club fleet sailed line astern across the Hastings' River bar to scatter a crewmate's Denis Fawell ashes at sea. The poem was written about that eve...
Dead Willows Mourn, by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The battle of Sedgemoor was the last battle to be fought on English soil. It was fought outside the Somerset village of Westonzoyland. I lived in Westonzoyland from 1973 to 1977....
Australia Day 2010 by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The following lines were written on the safe arrival of our first grandchild. A boy Auguste Chevalier....
Snow Angel by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
In November 1972 an English nurse, Judy Hill, died in a medical evacuation in Arctic Canada. As an Arctic reporter I covered the story that prompted an outpouring of poems, songs and books. The follow...
I am Here ( a story of old age) by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
This is about life's journey and what happens at the end....
Love by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
This was an early love poem to my wife. It is so early it was written on a typewriter. Remember them? I must have been about 30 at the time. An odd time to consider one's mortality....
Arrivals and Departures by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The poem was inspired by an incident the author witnessed at Hong Kong. It is about the free movement of people around the world....
White Bird Black Bird by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
My following poem was written to introduce my novel of the same name. It is about a seasonal rite in Canada's far north....
Modern Memories by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Recalling the past...
An Irish Song by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Written when visiting the Martello Tower outside Dublin ...
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Articles
Driving in France by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The article was written after spending six weeks in the south of France in 2006....
Abu Dhabi: a city that grew out of the desert by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The United Arab Emirates was formed in 1971. In its short life it has become an international powerhouse not only as a supplier of oil and gas but also as one of the world's biggest investors. This e...
Our Place in the Sun by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The essay is about the growth of the Melanesia independence movement on the French colony of New Caledonia...
The Threat of the Red Forest by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The article is mostly about the pine beatle which is destroying British Columbia's forest. The beatle's larvae, which was usually killed by Canada's harsh winter, is flourishing because of the mild...
Global Financial Crisis: The Way Forward by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
How should the trading nations restore stability to the world economy?...
Notes on a Distant Passage by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
A revisionist look at the tradition of ANZAC that historically remembers the allied invasion of Gallipoli in World War One but is seen by many Australians and New Zealanders as an essential part of th...
Who Killed Captain Cook by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Who Killed Captain Cook is about the local political plot that may have resulted in the murder of England's greatest navigator Captain James Cook on February 14,1779....
10 Days in China by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
I visited China with a party of fellow Australians in March of 2005....
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News
Book Launch in Port Macquarie by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
More than $500 worth of books sold in one hour....
Retired Diplomat Describes New Novel as Brilliant by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
James Cumes, a retired Australian diplomat who lives in Vienna has described Val Wake's new novel "When the Lions are Drinking" as brilliant....
December Launch of My Voyage by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
After a few delays Val Wake's new title is finally ready for the reading public...
Master Spy Panned on National TV by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The subject of Val Wake's biography No Ribbons or Medals is strongly criticised in Peter Butt's documentary...
Wake's Papers Made Available for Official Spy History by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Professor David Horner of the Australian National University has been commissioned to write a two volume history of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. Professor Horner's research assi...
Author's Website On Line by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
The most comprehensive source of information about Val Wake, the author, is now available on line....
Reviewers Greet My Voyage as an Entertaining Read by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
In a pre-launch market test two Australian book reviewers have welcomed the addition of My Voyage Around Spray to the Sid Harta publisher's list....
September Launch for My Voyage by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Memoir of author and adventurer Val Wake is scheduled for launch in Australia...
Australian Publisher accepts new book by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
My Voyage around Spray with apologies to Cptn. Joshua Slocum in first stage of galley proofs...
Novel hailed as a rich and exciting read by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
US book blogger describes White Bird Black as a epic novel about the rights of native Canadians and their struggle with oil and gas development...
Author Attacks Academic Research Standards by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
What ethics should be employed by researchers when gathering information?...
The Canadian Book Challenge Three by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Far north blogger choses Arctic novel for prize....
Sprawling Saga about the Authentic North by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
New York review of the Arctic novel White Bird Black Brid...
Author Featured on CBC Radio site by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
CBC Radio, The Book Club, is featuring Val Wake as one of its featured readers....
No Ribbons or Medals on E Bay by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
Ebay sale of rare first edition...
First Canada Outlet by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
New Arctic Novel on sale in Arctic Bookshop...
CBC North Anniversary by Valdemar (Val) R Wake
CYFK the scene of some of the action in White Bird Black Bird celebrates its 50th anniversary of broadcasting....
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Events
My Voyage Local Launch Date Set 12/9/2010
Val Wake's memoir about his re-discovery of Australia will be launched at the Port Macquarie Public Library on Thursday December 9....
Advertising Blitz in Canada 11/26/2009
First Canadian advertising of Arctic novel...
First Sale of Arctic novel in north 4/10/2009
First copies of White Bird Black Bird arrive at Yellowknife bookstore...
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Links
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| Val Wake the author
This is my own website
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White Bird Black Bird reading group
Questions for a reading group selection of Val Wake's novel White Bird Black Bird which is about the native rights movement in northern Canada.
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Profile of Val Wake
Profile of Australian born author Val Wake.
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No Ribbons or Medals review
Review by British academic Adam Davis of Val Wake's non-fiction story No Ribbons or Medals" the story of "Hereward" an Australian counter espionage officer
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Additional information
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| White Bird Black Bird was published by Booksurge part of the Amazon Group in November 2008. It is a fictional account of the growth of the native rights movement in northern Canada. ISBN: 1-4392-0345-8. ISBN-13: 9781 1439203453 CFYK, the CBC radio outlet in Yellowknife, where much of the action in White Bird Black Bird is set is celebrating its 50th anniversary of broadcasting in the north. You can find out more about this anniversary by going to www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/north/2008 |
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Contact
Information
2/6 Harbour Lane
Port Macquarie
2444
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